6/18/2024-Q2 account reviews that make your mgr smile.

YAY, it’s account review season!

If you’re in prep mode for your upcoming Q2 review with your manager, ya may wanna focus on each account’s objections and obstacles.

And if the review has already taken place and you’re working on your plan, keep focusing on objections and obstacles.

("Ahhhh, I get it!)

Insights about the two Os afford you indispensable signals that drive targeted Q3 selling strategies. If that’s the primary benefit from your Q2 reviews…fantastic!

Do you sweat over preparing for your Q2 account reviews – well that’s not a bad thing. How much do you sweat?

1. Figuring whether an account is an "A" or a "B"? …don’t sweat it.

2. Ensuring your "objectives and KPIs" section is accurate. …kinda important. Sweat that one a bit.

3. Proejcting revenue per each target account? Double down on that one…sweat the details.

4. Understanding the specific objections and obstacles that exist on every key account? Sweat like you just ran a marathon.

Q2 is closing soon, so there will be a re-set on several selling metrics: quotas will click back to start, pipeline growth will re-set at the same floor for all, and all other quantitative score-keeping will return to zero.

Hopefully, Q2 was a good quarter for you, and the start of Q3 invites optimism and a new plan for another great performance. Quarterly strategic reviews and previews should prompt you to elevate your thinking beyond your usual tactical moves.

Data is the foundation for smart, strategic selling, and it starts with analyzing key sales metrics. At the minimum, measure actual revenue against projections for each key account. That data will tell you a lot about your ability to project revenue and work an account.

Metrics like pipeline size and close rate are important but not as crucial as understanding what your customers want to buy – from you and competitors. With that comes your knowledge of objections and obstacles that exist per account; your CRM might not have a place to store that kind of intel, so figure out how to integrate it into your account review forms.

The next crucial piece of data is the examination of buyer personnel: are the KDMs who claim to hold decision power truly those who can say "yes"? What about champions? Do you have champions on the buy-side? If so, are they able to help you understand the true obstacles that prevent you from breaking or growing the business?

Account reviews are powerful exercises between you, your manager and other enablement personnel. Make sure you collect the right data and focus on what’s important to help unlock higher revenue for the next quarters.

Obstacles are merely opportunities disguised as your worst nightmare.

And in your worst nightmare, you are urged to give up, encouraged to be scared, and driven to feel defeated.

Thank goodness for Steven Claunch, the one-hand, short-legged young man who effortlessly slaps down obstacles and assertively moves forward.

You’ll love his story.